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John´s seventh single outside of the Beatles was written on acoustic guitar, demoed in October 1971 and released as a single in America for that holiday season, on 1 December 1971 — but not in the UK, where a dispute between John and The Beatles‘ publishing company, Northern Songs, delayed it to the extent that it had to wait until 24 November the following year to come out in his home country.

But even in the US, ‘Happy Xmas’ emerged too close to the holidays to get substantial airplay, and barely made the top 40 of the Cashbox singles chart. Billboard, for its part, listed it on its separate Christmas countdown rather than the Hot 100, limiting its profile further even though it reached No. 3.

When the song finally saw UK release, its chart entry on 9 December 1972 was somewhat modest, at No. 23. It climbed to No. 16, but sales really took off in the last chart before the holiday, and it spent the last two weeks of the year at No. 4.

UK chart debut on 9 December 1972: ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ by (to quote the credit exactly) John & Yoko With The Plastic Ono Band And The Harlem Community Choir.

Like so many Christmas songs, ‘Happy Xmas’ has made many return appearances, most notably in the sad aftermath of John’s death in 1980, when it climbed to No. 2. In its many subsequent chart runs, it last made the top 40 in 2007, at No. 40.

An original drawing by John of a fat budgie that was used for a charity Christmas card in 1965 has sold for more than £22,000., is a very simple doodle of the overweight bird on a perch was actually designed for his novel ‘A Spaniard in the Works’.
But after it was published Oxfam asked permission to use his primitive bird sketch for its charity Christmas cards of the same year.The work was entitled ‘The Fat Budgie’ by John, but because of its rotund shape it looks like a robin which made it perfect for the front of a Christmas card. The original pen and ink drawing, which is 8ins by 10ins, was gifted by Lennon to Tom Maschler, a British literary editor who worked on his book.
It has now been sold at auctioneers Bonhams for £22,500.
Stephen Maycock, of Bonhams, said: “It was quite a coupe for Oxfam to receive John Lennon’s permission to use his art work for their cards.
“The year was 1964 so these were probably the first charity Christmas cards of their kind.
“The front of the cards contained a facsimile of Lennon’s signature and the cards sold awfully well.
“John Lennon produced a lot of drawings, mostly cartoons, right through to the 1970s.
“All of his drawings tended to be very simple and not accurate to life.
“They were more exaggerated, like the fat budgie picture.
“This original work is probably one of the best known John Lennon works out there because it was published in his book and also because of the Christmas card.
“Tom Maschler was an editor at the publishers Jonathan Cape and John Lennon gave him a load of drawings as a thank you for the work he put into the book.
“The drawing has been sold by a private collector.”

U.S. Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service has unveiled a sneak peek at some of the postage stamps it will introduce next year, and among them is one paying tribute to John Lennon. The Lennon stamp will be the next installment of the USPS’ Music Icons series of “Forever” stamps.

No release date has been announced for the commemorative stamp honoring the Beatles legend. The U.S. Postal Service has issued a number of other Beatles-themed stamps over the years, including one in 1999 that commemorated the Fab Four’s 1968 animated flick Yellow Submarine.

Among the other artists who have appeared on Music Icons stamps are Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash and jazz singer Sarah Vaughan.

Back in the good and bad old days, in the early 1970s — when the Upper West Side was considered both a community in the best sense of the word and a place to get drugs or mugged — yellow-and-black “Safe Haven” decals began appearing in the windows of local shops. The stickers identified them as places where people, particularly schoolchildren, could duck into and get help if they felt threatened or lost in the streets.

John Lennon seemed to feel neither, according to Dr. Gary Tracy, the Upper West Side optometrist who provided him with his iconic, eponymous “John Lennon glasses” from 1974 to 1979. “Back then, there were a lot of John and Yoko sightings all over the neighborhood,” Dr. Tracy said. “They used to walk up and down the streets.”

Dr. Tracy, who turns 70 in January, was fresh out of optometry school in 1974, when he rented a “tiny” store on Columbus Avenue and 74th Street for $600 a month, with a five-year lease.

“One winter night,” he began, as if he had told the story many times before, “I saw a couple of faces peeking in the window. Then, they left. My friend from the flower store two doors down came running in and said, ‘That was John and Yoko peeking in your window.’ I was the closest optometrist to the Dakota at the time. I was, like, ‘Wow.’

“The next night, I was doing an exam around closing time and I heard somebody come in, and then, that voice: ‘Can I get my eyes examined?’ I knew right away. My receptionist was a middle-aged lady and she didn’t know who he was. She said, “You can make an appointment.” I heard that and I just ran and said, ‘Excuse me, I’m finishing up an exam. I’ll examine you in a few minutes.’ And that was the start of it.”

John Lennon found a safe haven at Dr. Gary Tracy’s Optometry and Eyewear.

“He liked glasses,” Dr. Tracy said. “I sold him a lot of pairs. I don’t think three months went by without him coming in for some sort of transaction. He didn’t take much time picking stuff out: ‘I want this, I want that.’

“He came at closing time on purpose,” Dr. Tracy explained. “We’d lock the door and he and Yoko would enjoy just sitting and relaxing and chatting about local things: what’s going on in the neighborhood, the Japanese market where they liked to shop, Café La Fortuna off of 72nd Street, where they liked to hang out.”

One thing they never talked about was The Beatles. “My friend from the plant store said, once John and Yoko went in there and he asked him about The Beatles. They never went back again. Whether there’s a connection or not, I don’t know,” Dr. Tracy said.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood was changing, gentrifying. “When my lease was up, my rent was going to go from $600 to $1,600. In 1979, I moved to 351 Amsterdam at West 77th Street. John never made it to the second store. He was shot in 1980. I had patients the next day who heard the shots. I was numb. I couldn’t process it. Now, when I think about it, there’s such a sadness for Yoko, too. They were very tight. I liked her a lot. She’s a very charming person.”

Dr. Tracy moved again three-and-a-half years ago, to his current location at 210 West 79th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway. The store is a bit like a shrine to John Lennon, with photographs and articles everywhere about “The Man with Kaleidescope Eyes.” If you call the store and are put on hold, you’ll wait to the sound of The Beatles singing “Blackbird.” Dr. Tracy laughed. “I keep meaning to change it to “Norwegian Wood.”

The music and spirit of John Lennon will be celebrated at a festival in suburban Lake Worth on Friday, the 37th anniversary of the musician’s death. Imaginefest, at the Sons & Daughters Farm and Winery, is being hosted by Ocean Ridge music promoter Daniel Hartwell, co-author of a self-published book called “Saint John Lennon.”

It will feature singalongs of classic Lennon and Beatles songs performed by more than 20 bands and prizes for a costume contest of outfits capturing the 1960s, ’70s and Beatles lookalikes.

“It’s a wonderful chance to get people together to pay tribute to John Lennon and The Beatles on the anniversary of his passing,” Hartwell said.

“John Lennon has that connection to every generation out there and I think what connects him to all of us is that he really focused on love and peace.”

Last month, Hartwell attended a Ringo Starr concert in Fort Lauderdale and gave a copy of the book to Ringo. “Ringo loved the concept. He told me he was looking forward to reading it,” he said.

Hartwell said he’s expecting at least 300 people to attend Imaginefest, which goes from 5 to 11 p.m. The winery is located at 5926 Fearnley Road, which is off Lantana Road just east of Florida’s Turnpike.

37 years ago today, #JohnLennon was murdered by a person who we aren’t going to name. John,songwriter, musician and activist who founded #theBeatles, the most successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music.His influence was huge in the world,and has been immortalized in so many ways, John’s death hit hard.All these years later, his death at 40 still feels shocking, and we continue to mourn the loss,and miss the music he would have continued to make. We’re remembering John today and forever with a look at the legacy he left, the unforgettable music he made, both with The Beatles and as a solo artist. We love you John.